Punters have a tantalising Madrid Derby to solve

Real and Atletico renew rivalries on Saturday

The UK 3.00pm starts will keep backers busy until Saturday’s Grand National goes to post at 5.15pm, but for those looking to cast their net a bit further afield, there’s one for the football purists scheduled in La Liga where Real Madrid host Atletico Madrid.

Click here to place your bets on the match, and we have laid out a host of markets to spice up the action, including first goal scorer, match winner and handicap betting. Cristiano Ronaldo is a 16/5 play to score first, while Gareth Bale can be backed at 6/4 to get on the scoresheet anytime during play.

Real Madrid worthy favourites

Zinedine Zidane’s Whites go into game 30 of their season sitting top of La Liga, boasting a two-point advantage over nearest rivals, and old foes, Barcelona. They also have a game in hand over the boys from the Camp Nou, who travel to Malaga this evening, live in front of the Sky Sports cameras from 7.45pm.

Odds compilers have Barca nailed down to grab the win there, but Real could make life difficult by picking up an important victory and moving five points clear at the summit. This will be the 60th renewal of this match, and the head-to-head stats do nothing but rack up confidence in a home win. Madrid lead the way on 34 wins against 15 draws and 10 defeats.

The locals enhanced that last time out when beating The Indians with minimum fuss on their own patch in the reverse of this fixture back in November, courtesy of a 3-0 full-time score. Ronaldo hit a stunning hat-trick that day, and is 10/1 with Coral to do the same again here. Our traders have also pushed the boat out and are offering a special bet on Ronaldo to score two or more goals in the match at 4/1, enhanced from 3/1.

Fancy another Real whitewash? Get on our 11/5 for them to win to nil, or if you’d prefer to keep things simple, the home win – regardless of how they achieve it or who scores – is yours at 4/6. A bet for European accumulators, perhaps.

Not all doom and gloom for Atletico

The bare stats would suggest this is a straightforward home win, and our traders seem happy enough to go along with that, but there are glimmers of hope if you’d prefer the value about an away day. No crumbs of comfort can be taken from Real’s form – they’ve won each of their last five – but Atletico are no slouches in that department themselves, also winning their last five.

A recent record of eight wins and one draw from their last 10 has fired Diego Simeone’s side up to third in the pile, and they can rattle Barca with the right result here. During that purple patch they have taken four of their last five games without conceding, scoring 10 goals in the process.

Atletico to win to nil is a longshot, 8/1 with Coral, but the away win is sure to get a share of attention, and we’ll reward you with 15/4 if it comes good. With two miserly defences on show, the smart play looks to be in backing under 3.5 goals at 4/9.